While Taiga appreciated that their new companion, indeed, was a linlao of common markings, mild-mannered, and seemed to be two to three years of age, it didn’t change the fact that Mouse had 1, not followed the plan. And 2, stolen a linlao meant for the evening auction for the wealthy.

A Starling was uncommon, a jack of all trades used in a variety of ways. So her presence beside a few mercenaries would go fairly unnoticed. But why would a simple Starling be intended for an auction of the wealthy? Taiga’s best guess; she would have been auctioned to a wealthy merchant group.

On one hand, this meant she’d have fetched a decent price, and her disappearance noted and reported. On the other… well, at least she was common enough that with some proper registration, they’d be overlooked. The problem was, they had no registration. In haste, Taiga scribbled a letter to a contact from his knightly days for some forgeries.

They set their goal for Winolin, known for its high mercenary presence and therefore, a sort of protection if anything stirred up about a recent Starling linlao disappearance. He’d written to his contact to mail the registration papers to the guild hall there. So as long as everything went smoothly until then, they were in the clear.

Sweet Bun, affectionately named by Mouse, nuzzled against Taiga’s back, nibbling at the collar of his tunic. Her beak clipped against his skin, though it didn’t bother him. Mouse took the opportunity to reach a hand out towards her, but the creature yanked back, and swatted at his hand with her beak. She puffed up, and looked at him with a look Taiga could only describe as annoyance.

“I gave her so many mealworms, and she still treats me like this,” Mouse pouted, puffing his cheeks a bit. “I don’t understand.”

“Well, that’s what happens when you mess around with her too much and try riding her without permission. We’re new to her, it’ll take time.” But even as Taiga said this, Sweet Bun set her chin on Taiga’s shoulder, rubbing into his neck and making begging chirps for his attention. He touched her beak for a few moments, before fixing the collar she chewed, and continuing on.

“Yeah, real convincing.” Mouse chided, which Sweet Bun seemed to notice. She narrowed her eyes at him, and gave him a gruff chirp in reply. “I’ll win her over eventually.”

“With what? You already tried food.”

“With my commitment?” He shrugged, nodding to himself. Taiga laughed, which earned another smile from Mouse.

The detour they took met at a dirt road a few kilometers out of town. They walked it, heading almost directly east. The third largest city in Lanria, Winolin, sat against a river running from the eastern mountains through the snaking corrupted lands.

Taiga could nearly smell the spices from the road, despite being nearly three hundred kilometers away. In all likelihood, the fields upwind cultivated various ginger, and it was harvesting season. The air began to cool as autumn threatened. Taiga already wore his cape as the evenings drew a chill.

He hoped the weather held until they’d reach Winolin in a week's time. There, Taiga and Mouse could find a job or two to fatten their wallets and hopefully garner some information about the Guardians corrupting and if anyone knew about the imbalance of magic.

Though humans weren’t exactly skilled in this knowledge, Lanria was the most advanced kingdom on the continent in this matter. Plus, the guild might be doing their own independent studies on it. At least, that was Taiga’s hope. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure. But he had noticed Mouse stopped talking about hurrying to see Pnendua ever since Mafgnesn’s death and the screams in him died down.

Maybe if they could find some sort of information to help stop the Guardian’s from corrupting… but at this point, he wasn’t even sure what kind of information that was. A cure? For what illness?

He flexed his fingers, trying to forcefully relax them. He didn’t appreciate walking around blindly. Queen Nolara had really sent them on a suicide mission. Taiga dabbled with that thought more often than he liked. But really, all they were buying was time.

And this time came at the cost of the Guardian’s lives. Their lives, which protected the soil and earth from corrupting beyond habitability for life.

“Heyyyyy,” Mouse whispered, inching his hand towards Sweet Bun’s feathered mane. He’d have had better luck not announcing his attempt, or so Taiga assumed. And by the way Sweet Bun squinted her eyes at him, he assumed correctly.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Sweet Bun studied Mouse’s hand hovering closer to her, before lunging her head out and snapping her beak down on it. Mouse yanked back, whipping his arm behind him. He frowned, shaking the pain out of his hand.

“She got my fingers.”

“Well, I suppose she’ll help you get better reflexes, huh?”

Mouse’s frown turned to him, “I am getting better, aren’t I?”

He was surprisingly positive, despite the annoyed bite in his tone. Taiga chuckled, shaking his head. A chilled breeze pulled past, and he huddled his arms under his cape. Taiga’s nose wrinkled at the cold, before picking up the distinct scent of cooking meat.

He glanced out towards the road ahead of him, spotting a thin stream of white smoke trickling into the sky. From the map he’d copied at the inn, there shouldn’t have been any villages nearby.

“Mouse, travelers.” He turned, catching his friend making another attempt at the linlao’s patience. “She’s never going to like you if you keep doing that.”

Mouse withdrew, looking out towards the road. “Let’s ambush them?”

Taiga stopped in his tracks. “Okay, wait, what? Why?” He sighed when Mouse shrugged. “Why do you immediately resort to violence?”

“But we can steal their money that way. You said we were running low again.”

“I did,” Taiga pinched the bridge of his nose, “but I meant we could find a job. Not steal.”

Mouse shrugged again, “what’s the difference?”

Taiga took a moment, breathed in deeply, and exhaled all the things he wanted to say. He opened his mouth, closed it, then repeated his breath to get the rest of it out. “Alright. No. I meant, we can see if they’re okay. It’s midmorning. Resting on the side of the road at this time isn’t normal.”

They walked a few peaceful moments in silence, before Mouse spoke again. “Maybe they’re going to ambush us? Then we can steal from them, right?”

Sweet Bun eyed Taiga, shifting to Mouse, then back to Taiga before grunting. He assumed it was linlao for ‘why is this fool with us’. At the moment, he wasn’t sure why either. He considered Mouse’s question nonetheless.

“Sure.”

Mouse smiled, and made some sort of giddy laugh. A smile crept over Taiga’s face. Mouse stepped ahead, keeping a few paces in front of Taiga and Sweet Bun. He tightened his pack, skipping a few steps, and poking his head up as high as he could, as if it would give him some new vantage point.

As they drew closer, Taiga reminded him of their agreement, and Mouse slowed his pace when he caught sight of a bunch of normal travelers sitting around a fire. He begrudgingly fell behind Taiga, unsure of these strangers now that he knew they weren’t criminals he could profit from.

“Y’all doing okay?” Taiga asked, plastering a concerned smile on his face as Mouse ducked behind him with Sweet Bun. She huffed beside him.

“Ah, well…” An older man stood to greet them, making a short bow which Taiga returned. “Are you two headed to Winolin? I’d recommend against it.”

“Something going on?” He tried to sound casual, though his interest perked.

“Well, a small group of travelers came through a few days ago, saying to be wary because they spotted a few demons on their way.” The man trailed off a bit, sighing and turning to a few other members.

Taiga paused, studying him for a moment. Though he sensed no lies, demons in fertile land? Sure, to the northeast lay a zone of corruption, but venturing this far wasn’t common.

“Demons? Out here?” Mouse poked his head out from behind Taiga.

“We weren’t sure either. I’ve only seen them once or twice all my life.” The man paused, “we’re merchants, just trying to get to Winolin.”

“Wait, go back to the part about demons,” Mouse huffed.

“Eh? Umm, well, I don’t know—”

“Ignore him. You need to get to Winolin? We’re heading there.” Taiga nudged his friend back. “We’re mercenaries. If you’d prefer, we can escort you there.”

From behind him, Mouse yanked back on the collar of his tunic, “why?” he whispered, while whining, into Taiga’s ear.

“Well, it’s a lot easier to get the full picture about the demons if they like us. Don’t you think? And it’s easier to hide Sweet Bun,” he gestured to a sleeping Finch linlao behind a cart, “if there’s another she can blend in with.”

“But I don’t like them.”

“Yeah, I know. But I can do the talking. Besides, making sure they get to Winolin safe is a good thing to do. You know what I mean, ex-knight?”

Mouse puffed his cheeks out, narrowing his eyes at Taiga, “making sure they’re safe is a good thing,” he mumbled in agreement. Taiga smiled and nodded.

“Would you? Oh, that would be fantastic!” A woman from behind the old man stood, hurrying to them. Her gait thumped the ground, though it went unnoticed beneath her booming voice. “Look, we can’t pay you. But we have good food.”

Mouse, who had ducked back behind him at her thunderous presence, raised his head over Taiga’s shoulder, “food? Do you have peaches?”

The woman eyed him a moment, before a laugh belted from her, “bundles of them!”